Casefile True Crime - Case 17: The Eriksson Twins

Episode Date: April 30, 2016

On the 17th of May 2008, two motorway patrol officers attended to a call that a pedestrian had been hit by a vehicle on the M6 motorway, near the city Stoke-on-Trent, in England. Expecting the worst, the two officers were surprised when they arrived to see two pedestrians standing calmly and uninjured on the shoulder of the motorway. It didn’t look like much was going on at all… For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-17-the-eriksson-twins

On the 17th of May 2008, motorway patrol officers Cope and Finlayson responded to a call that a pedestrian had been hit by a vehicle on the M6 motorway near the city of Stoke-on-Trent in England. Expecting the worst, the two officers were surprised when they arrived on scene to see two pedestrians standing calmly and uninjured on the shoulder of the motorway. They didn't look like much was going on at all, but within a few minutes, the seemingly calm situation took a frightening twist. Hardly anything is known about the lives of twin sisters Sabina and Ursula Ericsson. They were born in Sweden on the 3rd of November 1967. They have an older sister Mona and an older brother

Bjorn. Whilst at school, the twins were described by summers a little bit odd. They kept mostly to themselves and at times they had a tendency to be violent. We know that in the year 2000, Ursula was living in the United States and Sabina was living in Ireland with her partner and two children. Nothing is really known about their lives though. From the year 2000 to the year 2008, it's believed that Sabina may have spent some time in the United States with Ursula and that her son even moved to the United States to live with Ursula for a period of time. For what reason we don't know. There is no evidence that either Sabina or Ursula had been treated for mental health issues. In 2008, Ursula visited Sabina in Ireland. It's not known if this was just a catch-up visit

or if there was a specific reason for the visit. But what we do know is that during the visit, the twins were absolutely inseparable. They formed an extremely tight bond. And suddenly, in the early hours of the 16th of May 2008, without telling anyone of their intentions, Sabina and Ursula left Ireland. The twins were next seen the next day, the 17th of May, in Liverpool, England. It's believed they travelled to England from Ireland via ferry. The twins entered St Anne Street police station in Liverpool and Sabina reported concerns about the safety of her children. Why Sabina and Ursula travelled to England to report this when the children and her partner were back in Ireland is anyone's guess. Liverpool police contacted the police back in Ireland who

did a check on Sabina's partner and the children. Everything was okay. Sabina's partner told the Irish police that Sabina had taken off after they had a fight. Irish police said Sabina and Ursula could get in touch with them if they had any fears or concerns upon their return to Ireland. After leaving St Anne Street police station, the twins boarded a National Express coach that was headed for London. They boarded the coach about 11.30am. The twins each had a bag and refused to put them in the baggage area of the coach. They insisted on holding onto the bags. Just after 1pm, the coach stopped at Kill Services, which is a service station on the M6 motorway. Details of why the coach stopped are a bit sketchy. There are reports that the coach stopped

for a scheduled driver change. There's also reports saying that the only reason the coach stopped was because the twins were behaving erratically and causing trouble. Either way, the twins got off the coach despite the fact that it wasn't a scheduled rest stop. The driver was suspicious of them and ended up refusing to allow them back on the coach because the twins wouldn't allow him to search their bags. The driver told the employee in the service station, Melissa Dutton, that he wasn't letting the twins back on and basically told her it was her problem now, she could look after it. So Melissa kept an eye on the twins as well. She got suspicious of their behaviour. The twins were holding their bags tightly to

their chest, like their lives were dependent on not letting go. That combined with the way they were talking and moving around, it looked like they were plotting something. Their behaviour actually led Melissa to think that maybe they were even carrying bombs in the bags. So Melissa called the police. Police did attend shortly after and spoke to the twins, but after checking them out, the officers didn't think anything was wrong. They told Melissa the twins were going to make their way to London and there were no issues. The police left the twins with a phone number for the coach company so they could arrange to get on the next coach. But instead of getting on another coach, the twins started walking along the M6 motorway.

The M6 motorway is covered by video cameras, which are monitored at the Highway Agency's control centre in Birmingham. At about 3.20pm, the twins were spotted on the cameras walking along the central reservation of the motorway. There was a barrier on each side of them, but it was still dangerous. Not a place for pedestrians. A Highway Agency patrol unit was dispatched to get the twins off the motorway. Highway Agency officers aren't police. Their role is to basically ensure there are no issues on the motorways, to ensure traffic is flowing freely and there are no incidents that could put anyone at risk. If there is an accident, they will sort out the traffic management plan, put in roadblocks, diversions, things like that. They don't pull

people over or issue speeding forwards. So a Highway Agency car was sent to get the twins out of the central reservation and off to safety. But when the twins saw the Highway Agency car, they jumped out of the central reservation and onto the motorway in front of oncoming traffic. Cars had to brake hard and swerve to avoid running the twins over. Sabina actually got clipped by a car and got knocked over. The incident was captured on video. Police and paramedics were immediately called to attend. The fear being Sabina could have serious injuries. But she didn't. She was perfectly fine. Her and Ursula made their way off the motorway and onto the shoulder.

Police officers Cope and Finlayson responded to the call. And it just so happened that they had a camera crew with them who were filming for BBC's television show, Motorway Cops. When they arrived, the twins were still standing on the shoulder of the motorway. They were speaking with the two Highway Agency officers that first attended. Everybody was calm and there were no issues at all. The paramedics hadn't arrived yet. But by the looks of it, they wouldn't be required. Everything was calm and cool with no sign of anybody being injured. Officers Cope and Finlayson started talking with one of the Highway Agency officers to find out

what was going on. The twins were a short distance away standing next to the other Highway Agency officer. Everybody was still standing on the motorway shoulder. Whilst the Highway Agency officer was still briefing the police, this happened. They were trying to cross the Bravers. Whilst we approached, they hadn't seen us really, the red ones got knocked down by the red tower over there. They've got an ambulance on route for them. Seems all right, but I'm not a doctor. She has been knocked down. Is he the one that speaks English or the other one? Michael for Michael, but we need ambulance, senior officers to the scene. We've got two

possible facels. The twins were standing there calmly. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at all. Then suddenly, for no apparent reason, Ursula walked out onto the motorway. The Highway Agency officer nearby did his best, but he only managed to grab hold of a jacket, which she easily slipped out of. Ursula ran straight onto the road and directly into the side of a 40-ton truck. The truck ran straight over the top of her. Sabina then made her move, running out onto the motorway as well. She threw herself into the path of an oncoming car.

She went straight over the front of the car, smashing into the windscreen, denting the bonnet and the roof before being flung up into the air and then slamming hard onto the road. It's incredible footage. A link will be available in the show notes so you can see it. Your initial response is that there is no chance they would have survived that. But by some miracle, they both did. Both of them laid motionless on the road, knocked unconscious by the impacts, but they were alive. The motorway was immediately shut down and police went to work trying to render aid, while still waiting for the paramedics to arrive.

Officer Finlayson rushed to Ursula, who had been run over by the truck. She had massive leg injuries, suffering compound fractures. Ursula then started screaming out, saying she wanted the police. Even though it was a police officer kneeling next to her. She got quite aggressive and even started spitting and clawing at Officer Finlayson. Paramedics arrived shortly after. They made their way first to Ursula and helped calm her down, bringing her under control. Meanwhile, Officer Cote was with Sabina. Sabina was laying calmly until suddenly.

Where's Paul? Stay? Paul. Stay? Paul. Why do you feel me? Stay still. Why do you feel me?

I've got to get out of here. Fuck it all! No! No! Sabina stood up. Officer Cope was trying to get her to lay back down, trying to calm her down. Sabina started to pull away from Officer Cope. And then she turned around and punched her in the face,

knocking her to the ground. Sabina then jumped over the central reservation and ran on to the other side of the motorway. Traffic was still moving, she was lucky she didn't get hit again. Officer Finlayson gave chase. Luckily the drivers could see what was going on and the traffic came to a stop.

Officer Finlayson tried to get hold of Sabina. But Sabina took off her jacket and started jumping up and down, like she was shaping up for a fight. Stay! Stay there, calm down, calm down, calm down. Calm down. Okay, okay, calm down, calm down.

Calm down. Yeah, calm down. Relax. Calm down. Chill. Calm down. We're police. Police.

Police, please. Police. I suspect this. Police. We're going to be on the bar for a day. Police. Police. Officer Coat, along with members of the public

and other police who had arrived, had to assist Officer Finlayson to bring Sabina under control. It took about six people in total. But even with that many people on her, she was still resisting and putting up a good fight. Her strength was described as inhuman. Help!

Help! Help! Guys, watch it, guys. Wait, stop! Get down, we'll get an anchor up from behind. It's not this. Down. I'm going to find down.

I'm going to find you, snap. That way towards you. Watch it, face, watch it. Ah! Are they police? We are the police. Like her sister Ursula, Sabina also started calling out for the police.

Despite the fact she was surrounded by police. No, let's go. Even when she was finally restrained, paramedics still weren't able to treat her, as she was still aggressive and still trying to fight. They ended up having to sedate her. Nobody had any idea what was going on. It was such bizarre behavior,

the likes of which the police on scene had never encountered before. They believed Ursula and Sabina were most likely off their heads on drugs. They also wondered if what they had just witnessed was the result of some sort of suicide pact the twins had made. A search of their bags found multiple mobile phones and a passport for one twin, but no idea at all for the other.

Both twins were transported to hospital. Ursula was in a critical condition. But Sabina was only suffering minor injuries and she was released after just five hours. Incredibly, a full psychiatric evaluation wasn't conducted. She was seen by a police doctor, a psych doctor and a social worker. And they all deemed that there was nothing wrong with her

and she was fit to be released. Once she was released from hospital, police took her into their custody and transported her back to the station. The screaming, violent person throwing herself in front of traffic and fighting police was gone. Sabina was now calm, no trouble at all. It was that much of a change in behaviour

that police transported her from the hospital without handcuffs. She sat in the back seat of their car, calm and totally unrestrained. Once they got back to the police station, Sabina even started laughing and joking around with the police. Part of what happens when processing a prisoner is the police ask a whole heap of questions about the prisoner's history and their health.

It's a duty of care. So police ask if they suffer from any illnesses, if they require medication, that sort of thing. They also ask if the prisoner has ever tried to harm themselves. When Sabina was asked this question, she said no, she hadn't. Whilst she was being processed, Sabina said these words,

which would go on to be quite chilling. We say always in Sweden there's an accident, and rarely comes those. At least once more follows. We say always in Sweden that an accident rarely comes alone. Usually at least one more follows. Perhaps two.

Sabina was charged with trespassing on a motorway and with assaulting a police officer. She had no previous criminal record. At no time during the process did Sabina ask how her sister was. She didn't mention her at all. She was very calm and casual about the whole thing. It was almost as if nothing had happened.

There were no drugs found on Sabina or in her bag, same with Ursula. There was no evidence of drug use at all. As Ursula was in a critical condition at hospital, a blood sample was taken from her. Sure that something would show up, medical staff and police were surprised to find zero alcohol and zero traces of drugs in her system.

A blood sample wasn't taken from Sabina. Suffering only minor injury, medical staff didn't have to take any. And only being charged with trespassing and assault, the police had no power to order the medical staff to take a blood sample. But given the negative result of Ursula's test, it's assumed Sabina's test also would have come back negative.

She was kept in custody and appeared at the Fenton Magistrates Court two days later, the 19th of May 2008. She played guilty to both charges. She was sentenced to one day in custody, which she had already served. So she was released. On that evening of Sabina's release,

the 19th of May 2008, Sabina crossed paths with 54-year-old Glenn Hollandshead and his friend Peter Malloy. They were walking home after having a few beers at the local pub. Glenn also had his dog with him. They were walking along Christchurch Street in Fenton when they noticed Sabina standing on the other side of the road. Peter says Sabina stuck out like a sore thumb.

She seemed stressed and worried and gave the impression she was lost. She was carrying her belongings in a plastic bag. Sabina shouted across the road at Glenn and Peter, saying it was a nice dog they had. Glenn and Peter made their way over and struck up a conversation with her. Sabina mentioned to them that her sister was in hospital

and that she was trying to find her. The conversation went on a little further before Sabina said she needed to find a bed and breakfast to stay at. Glenn told her there was really nowhere around the area where she could stay, but she was welcome to go back to Hesias. He said he would give her something to eat and then they could try and work out where her sister was

and then they could organise somewhere for her to stay. Peter says this was just in Glenn's character. He was a good Samaritan and liked to help people in need. He was a very warm and friendly type of person. Sabina accepted the offer. She then seemed to open up a bit more and become warmer and friendlier. They got back to Glenn's house and sat down

and had a few drinks together. When Glenn and Peter asked about Sabina's sister, her demeanour would change. There would either be an awkward silence or she would quickly change the subject. Sabina also started to display some odd paranoid behaviour. They would be sitting down talking and then she would get up and walk over to the window,

pull the shades up, stare up and down the street before snapping the shades back and sitting down again. She did this a few times as if she was paranoid somebody was watching. Then she got out her cigarettes and asked Glenn and Peter if they wanted one. They both accepted. As they were both about to light up,

Sabina quickly snatched the cigarettes back off them and said, they might be poisoned, you can't have them. Despite the fact Sabina had been smoking from this particular packet of cigarettes all night. Peter was starting to feel very uneasy. He could tell something wasn't quite right with Sabina. Glenn on the other hand didn't seem concerned at all. He was kicking back, relaxed and comfortable.

He kept telling Peter not to worry, saying Sabina was just a bit quirky, nothing to be concerned about. But Peter couldn't get out of there soon enough. He left the house and went home, leaving Sabina and Glenn there by themselves. Perhaps what was most intriguing is that despite being run over by a car,

flung up into the air and slamming onto the road, two heavy impacts knocking her unconscious only two days before, Sabina wasn't complaining of any pain at all. She seemed completely unaffected. Around lunchtime the next day, Glenn rung his brother Paul, who worked at the local hospital. He was trying to find out some more information on Ursula.

Paul said Glenn was his usual cheerful self, no alarm bells at all. He could hear Sabina's voice in the background. Glenn explained to his brother what had happened and said they were just after any information they could get on Ursula. About 7.40pm that evening, Glenn walked outside and asked a neighbour, Frank Booth, if he had any spare teabags.

Frank was outside washing his vehicle and told Glenn that when he finished up, he would go in and grab some. Glenn thanked him and walked back inside his house. But only one minute later he was back outside. Staggering, suffering from four stab wounds, including one to the heart. He said to Frank,

I've been stabbed, she's stabbed me. He then collapsed to the ground. Frank immediately dialed emergency services, which is triple nine in the UK. As this was happening, Glenn asked Frank to look after his dog. He then passed away. Meanwhile, Sabina left Glentius

and ran up the street carrying a hammer. She was in a completely deranged state, hitting herself over the head with the hammer. This caught the attention of a passing motorist Joshua, who saw what she was doing and saw that her hair was matted with blood. She also had blood over the front of her jacket. Joshua got out of his car

and tried to wrestle the hammer from Sabina. Sabina struggled with him and seemed to be in an absolute rage. Sabina got the better of Joshua by hitting him in the back of the head with a broken piece of roof tile that she was carrying in her pocket. Sabina got away.

Joshua saw two paramedic vehicles driving after her. They had obviously responded to the call and driven across Sabina. Sabina continued running, trying to get away from the paramedics. She ran to a bridge at Heron Cross, above the A-50 roadway. Sabina climbed the railing

and jumped straight off onto the road below. The fall was about 30 feet, which is about 10 metres. She broke both of her ankles and fractured her skull. But again, she survived. She was transported to hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, police examined the crime scene at Glentius.

It looked as though Glent was in the process of preparing a meal when he had been stabbed. Sabina's DNA profile was found on the kitchen knife used to stab Glent. Her bloodstained jacket and a ring she was wearing contained matching DNA from Glent. Sabina remained in hospital until September. Upon being discharged from hospital,

she was charged with the murder of Glent Holland's head. Her cellar was also discharged from hospital in September. But she wasn't charged with any offences. She was allowed to return to Sweden. Sabina refused to answer any questions at all. Every question that was asked of her, she replied, no comment. So we have no idea exactly what happened in Glentius

that day or even the night before after Peter had left. Sabina pleaded not guilty to murder and a trial date was set for February 2009. But it was postponed due to issues getting Sabina's medical records. The trial was rescheduled for September 2009. But the case never ended up going to trial. Instead, she was able to plead guilty to a lesser charge. Prior to the trial, Sabina was charged with a murder.

Sabina was charged with a murder. Prior to the trial, Sabina was assessed by two forensic psychiatrists, one acting for the defense and the other one acting for the prosecution. They both reached the same conclusion. Sabina was mentally ill at the time she killed Glent Holland's head. But they had different opinions on what the mental illness was.

The defense diagnosed Sabina with induced delusional disorder. A basic meaning is madness in two people. So what they were saying is that one person suffers from a psychotic illness. And then the second person becomes affected by it and they end up taking on the psychosis as well. For example, Ursula runs out onto the motorway into the path of a truck. So Sabina follows. Both conditions were extremely rare.

And Glent's family wanted to know why Sabina was released from hospital so soon and allowed to go free after the motorway incident if she was suffering from what was now determined to be a psychotic episode. Prior to Sabina's release from hospital after the motorway incident, she was seen by a police surgeon, a psychiatrist and a social worker. These aren't police officers. They are medical professionals.

And they all came to the conclusion that Sabina displayed no obvious signs of any mental or psychological illness. They all concluded she was fit and well to be released. They didn't have the benefit of seeing the footage when they came to that conclusion but they would have had detailed accounts from the officers who were there of what went on. It's pretty amazing that they did come to that conclusion. A couple of explanations have been thrown up. If she was in fact suffering from a puff of madness,

then the psychotic behavior can come and go quickly. So it may have been gone momentarily at the time she was assessed. Another theory is that maybe the sedation she was given on the motorway was still having a bit of a calming effect on her at the time she was assessed. Either way, the system failed. The murder charge was dropped and Sabina was allowed to enter a play of guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The judge accepting that Sabina had suffered from a rare and temporary form of insanity at the time of the murder. During the court process, Sabina maintained a silence about what had happened. She didn't utter a single word about the murder of Glen Hollinshead or the motorway incident. No one had any idea what the twins were even doing in England in the first place. They have never given a reason. The judge had a difficult time determining

exactly what diagnosis of Sabina was the correct one, as a strong case could be made for both. It was made more difficult by the fact that neither of the forensic psychiatrists had assessed Ursula. Maybe if she had been assessed, they could have gotten some piece of information that could have shed a bit more light on Pinks. Another issue arose with the case when both the defence and the prosecution agreed that although Sabina was mentally ill at the time of the murder,

she had now made a full recovery. So what that meant was that the judge couldn't send her to a secure mental health hospital because she was no longer mentally ill. So instead, he wanted to give Sabina a sentence with no fixed release date to make sure she would only be freed when it was safe to do so. But he could only do that if Sabina was considered a risk to the public. And both the defence and the prosecution's psychiatrists agreed that they considered Sabina to only be a low risk.

With that, the judge said his hands were tied. Given she was determined to be low risk, by law, the judge had to give her a fixed term prison sentence with no supervision or monitoring requirements after her release. He sentenced her to five years jail. Glenn's family considered Sabina's diagnosis to be a pretty convenient one. A quick and easy way to deal with the case, because really, no one had any idea what was going on, it was so bizarre.

Here is what the judge, Justice Saunders, had to say at sentencing. I understand that this sentence will seem entirely inadequate to the relatives of the deceased. However, I have sentenced on the basis that the reason for the killing was the mental illness, and therefore the culpability of the defendant was low. And therefore the sentence I have passed is designed to protect the public. It is not designed to reflect the grief the relatives have suffered, or to measure the value of Mr. Hollins head's life. No sentence that I could pass could do that.

It is a sentence which I hope fairly measures a truly tragic event. Sabina only served two and a half years of her sentence, and then she was released and she was allowed to return to Sweden. Just like her life before these incidents, very little is known about Sabina since her release. With either condition she was thought to be suffering from, there is a possibility Sabina could relapse into another episode of Insanity in the future. Thank you for watching.